Integrated Talent Management: Are You There Yet?

Kelly Services reminisces about its journey to deploying Cornerstone's global ITM suite - and shares tips with fellow HR and learning travelers - at Convergence 2009

Not too long ago, we announced Kelly Services as a new Cornerstone client.  Kelly is migrating to a global integrated talent management (ITM) system, with platforms for onboarding, learning, performance, succession, compensation and extended enterprise. What's compelling about Kelly's story is the size and scope of the implementation - at 659,000 users (650K temp and 8,900 FT employees) across 39 countries, it is likely the largest global SaaS deployment to date.

Kelly Services' corporate training and learning manager, Matt Ludwa, joined us at Convergence 2009 to share with his peers some key learnings from the company’s journey to deploying its global ITM suite - complete with detours, potholes, roadblocks and “hidden gem” finds. 

Like many other companies, Kelly’s Human Resources and Global Learning teams are in two different departments.  But in going through the process of replacing the company’s previous learning management system (SumTotal Docent LMS), synergies were revealed between the two teams.  They decided to work jointly to move to a comprehensive, global solution – one that would be a bigger win for the organization because it would:

• Better support Kelly’s global talent management initiatives
• Save money
• Create organizational efficiencies
• Build cooperation across the HR and learning teams
• And improve on the functionality of the outdated solution sets

As Matt put it, the next step was determining “how much the trip was going to cost.” 

With helpful input from Cornerstone, Kelly’s HR and learning teams assembled the business case for the C-level executives.  In addition to identifying expenditures for the previous LMS, the team identified future offsets.  For example, since Cornerstone is SaaS-based, no IT support is required, hosting fees would be eliminated, and less testing would be required.  There also would be process gains, such as forms for new employee onboarding.  But the biggest win would come from “single-sign-on” employee access, eliminating issues with people having to keep track of multiple passwords for various internal systems.  As simple as it sounds, forgotten passwords often prevented users from getting training when they needed it, and one-stop access could help to increase corporate compliance. 

Taking into account the expenditures, offsets and gains, Kelly’s team estimated the new ITM system would pay for itself in a year, with a net savings of $100 K over three years. 

So once you have the C-level buy-in, what does it take to ensure a large-scale global implementation runs smoothly?  According to Matt, it is “having a good itinerary” – defining at least at a high level where the organization is and where it wants to go in terms of its talent strategy.  A clear roadmap helps to:

• Ensure executives have a clear view of where you’re going
• Build excitement for the journey
• Avoid the “when are we going to be there” questions
• Ensure quick, on-time arrival – and at the promised destination
• Provide the needed information to “have fun when you get there”

Despite having a strategic roadmap, the implementation wasn’t without its “detours, potholes and roadblocks.” But these also provided some key implementation learnings for the Kelly team, such as:

• Make sure you know all of your requirements 
• Determine a way to do a pilot to test the system
• Get the hierarchy data into the application quickly so configurations can begin
• Gain consensus up front on how to configure the system (Kelly organized an unofficial advisory board for their deployment)

The implementation process also revealed some unexpected benefits.  For example, the Kelly team found they were able to come up with new and innovative ways for engaging employee usage of the system and achieving sign-offs on requirements such as compliance and ethics.  The team continues to find ways to drive people back to the application via staggered functionality/process launches, supported by communications that evangelize the system’s benefits.  In less than a month of deploying Cornerstone’s ITM system, Kelly’s learning team was able to garner 100 percent compliance – a major achievement.  Other quick wins included the roll-out of a new onboarding program and simplification of Kelly’s curricula. 

Ultimately, according to Matt, the secret to a successful global deployment of an ITM system boils down to four things:

• Demonstrating application benefits to achieve global executive sponsorship
• Knowing your regional requirements and audiences
• Communicating frequently
• Learning from previous missteps and keeping it simple when possible

Kelly, which had its initial deployment in the U.S. in February, continues to work with Cornerstone to get the whole suite implemented and integrated globally across the organization.  So, while the team hasn’t yet arrived at their ultimate destination, they are on the right path to providing value for job candidates, Kelly’s customers and Kelly’s suppliers so the organization can be better and stronger. 
 

Charles Coy is the Product Marketing Director for Cornerstone OnDemand